install cups, and it will detect the .ppd file in /root directory. then when the installation has finished, a window will pop up, and you need to follow the instructions on how to add a printer, and select stp-bjc-MULTIPASS-MP150.5.1.ppd as the driver.

this is only for the printer functionality of your device, any scanner function will have to wait for another day. if this doesn't work, then i'd estimate that your options are, (in terms of easyness):

But the linux driver is for a Pixma MP160 printer. I have both a MP150 and a MP160 and they seem to be identical both physically and probably software wise. The 160 superceded the 150 model and I can't tell them apart except for a different case colour. The 160 is slightly darker.

So with that in mind, I expect the linux MP160 driver to work perfectly on the 150. I have downloaded all the drivers listed on the site. There are two files for the printer and the scanner. One is a common package and the other just says "package for MP160.

The files are in RPM format.
This is where I'm up to now. Don't know how to convert or unzip or what!
Think I need unrpm?? to convert but I don't even know how to get it in Puppy and what to do next.

where is the link for this driver, or what is the name of the package you downloaded it in? if it's available i can have a look & see how easy it would be to install. in the meantime, have you downloaded & tried the free turboprint?

i'll just cover the printer.rpm's as the procedure is the same for the scanner, (plus i still haven't gotten the neighbour's mp160 to work with xsane anyway!).these are the steps you need to follow for printer:

3) if you click on the respective .rpm files. they should open with pupzip, then choose to extract their contents to /root/cnij

(if they don't extract with pupzip, you'll need to move them to /root/cnij, then do:

Code:

cd /root/cnij
unrpm cnijfilter-c*.rpm
unrpm cnijfilter-m*.rpm

4) then you need to use roxfiler to open directory /root/cnij/usr/lib directory, then you need to manually select each of the 6 libcnbxxxx files, right click them, select "link", and create a relative link by removing everything after the libcnbxxx.so eg on the commandline, the first one would be:

Code:

ln -s libcnbpcmcm291.so.6.50.1 libcnbpcmcm291.so

(somebody more knowledgeable about bash scripting could probably provide an easy way of doing this?)

this should recognise the .ppd file in /root, then pop-up a message explaining how to use cups to install the printer, using that .ppd file.

the above procedure would need to be followed for the scanner as well but, as i've mentioned, i haven't been able to get the gui xsane to recognise my neighbour's mp160 scanner. but the commandline program i mentioned on the first page does work, so would probably work with your mp150 as well.

So I typed this code as you suggested
cd /root/cnij
unrpm cnijfilter-mp160-2[1].70-1.i386.rpm
(this is my rpm filename)
Returned 10646 blocks

This is where I'm up to:-
In /root/cnij/usr/lib, I can see the 6 files you referred to but I'm confused.
The files are:-
libcnbpcmcm291.so.6.50.1
libcnbpcnclapi291.so.3.3.0
libcnbpccclbjcmd291.so.3.3.0
libcnbpcnclui291.so.3.3.0
libcnbppess291.so.3.0.9
libcnbpo291.so.1.0.4
You say remove everything after the libcnbxxx.so but on your example command line reference you have ln -s libcnbpcmcm291.so.6.50.1 libcnbpcmcm291.so

If I remove everything after libcnb don't I end up with libcnb.so???
I don't understand what to do here with each of the 6 files. What should they look like?

You then say in 5, copy everything to their real location:
Copy what?
Where did the ppd file suddenly spring from as referred to in the code?

Finally you say download and install CUPS. Puppy 2.17.1 already has CUPS installed, so do I need to do this.

if unrpm works on the commandline, then it's installed...even though pupzip might not be aware of it.

you should have two files to unrpm for the printer, the common one & the one specifically for the mp160. you need to unrpm them both in the same directory.

when i say "remove" everything after the ".so", i mean when you right click on the original six files in /root/cnij/usr/lib & select "link..." . A box will open up & you need to move the cursor to just after ".so", delete the end bits, then press enter. so you should end up with 12 files, the 6 originals & 6 symlinked pointing to the originals.

if you do all the above, then dload & install the cups .pup, you should be close to printing out something...(that's if mp160 .ppd works with your printer!) i'm sure there's a way of getting cups to use an already existing .ppd file, but unfortunately i don't know how. so it's easier to use pakt's cups .pup which will "grab" the .ppd file from /root.( pakt & rarsa deserve honorary cups doctorates for plumbing the depths of the labyrinthal cups!). if you have an alternative method, please use.

1. The CUPS v1.1.x prints out a perfect Printer Test Page with color wheel and text and graphics.

2. A web page, I've used the Puppy Jumping off Page, prints ok, except the top margin seems stuck at 4mm and cuts off the area just above the eyes in the Puppy icon on that page. Changing the margins in printer setup (default is .04) does not seem to alter the printout but I have not played with it a lot as yet. Maybe .04 is 4mm and needs to be say .09. Can you suggest anything I may be doing incorrectly.

3. I've tried the write program and the Spreadsheet program (AbiWord and Gnumeric, resp) that come with Puppy and neither have picked up the installed printer. They only show two options, Create a PDF document and Generic Postscript and don't give the option of selecting the installed printer. Do you know how to fix this. All this effort is primarily designed to print documents so it's important this part works. By the way, when I tried the TurboPrint package, these did not pick up the TurboPrint driver as well. What to do here!!!

4. Can you tell me about the 6 files in the library. If I attempt later to install the scanner part of the driver, are there another 6 files I need to change. I don't understand what these files are or do. Are they unique to Puppy or part of Linux. Why do they need to be linked to something.

5. CUPS was already installed in Puppy so why did I need to reinstall it. Was this just a sure fire way of picking up the ppd file. I wonder if putting a ppd file in /root is a way of getting a non supported driver up and running in other Linux distributions. To my simple mind, installing a printer in Linux should be the same no matter which distro is used. But the again!!!

6. I keep getting caught out with copying files in Linux. The copy and Paste method. Wants to copy onto itself so must be doing something dumb. Is there a trick to it that is a bit different to copy in windows. I end up just retyping the new path to copy to. Copy/Paste works if in the same directory but not to another directory. Seems it does not copy to a clipboard to paste somewhere else.

Getting back to the printing.
With all the linux skill out there, couldn't someone write a generic script that would install any printer in any version of Linux, as long as the appropriate driver was sitting in a common file somewhere and the script just searches for that location. The Turboprint driver just installed without any fuss and it contains many generic drivers. Or am I dreaming again!!

Finally, is it possible to open up two copies of the SeaMonkey browser at the same time.

good to hear that it's working. regarding modifying printer preferences you should have downloaded the printer .pdf manual, from the same location as the .rpm files. that should give you some clues. remember that there are about 5 binary files installed to /usr/local/bin, what their functionality is, only the manual & google can tell you. (printuimp160 sounds like it should be a gui app?).

also, (and i know it's not the most user friendly app in existence.), do some reading about using cups.

q3)
the abiword printer issue is a regular problem on puppy forum...but i've forgotten what solution is! have a search of the forum, and i'll also see if i can also dredge something up.

q4)
the six library files are required for the canon driver & they need the 6 symlinked files to work. this is basic linux file anatomy. executables(binaries), go in /usr/bin or /usr/local/bin, shared library files, (sort of like window .dlls), go in /usr/lib, and other left-over bits usually end up in /usr/share. for any deeper understanding than that you need to do a course in "linux file structure philosophy-101" taught by Professor Gn2!

q5)

Quote:

i'm sure there's a way of getting cups to use an already existing .ppd file, but unfortunately i don't know how. so it's easier to use pakt's cups .pup which will "grab" the .ppd file from /root.

q6)
i use a combination of gui &/or commandline. haven't had windows computer for yonks. think of it as an opportunity to learn new skills!

regarding scanning, before bothering to do above process with the scanner .rpms, i'd recommend you dload & try the commandline scan program i previously mentioned, as it's just one file & it works straight away with canon pixmas.